The reactions were predictable. With the return of Alonzo Mourning, the front-running Philadelphia 76ers were going to feel the Heat, so to speak. An efficient Zo -- which now looks almost like a contradiction in terms -- was going to alter the balance of power in the favor of Miami.

	Even referere Dick Bavetta thinks Sam Cassell and the Bucks might be No. 1.

A lot of people said that. A lot of people wrote that. A lot of people may still think that, despite Miami's 1-3 record since Mourning's comeback. What all those people are forgetting is that the biggest threat to the Sixers' apparent lock-hold on the East is not in Miami, but in the land of the Cheeseheads. That was the case while Zo was out. That's still the case now that he's back.

Everybody likes the Milwaukee Bucks the same way everybody likes Steve Martin. They're entertaining, they can provide a few laughs, but we can't take a team like that seriously, can we? They actually try to win by outscoring the other guy, a novel -- dare we say unorthodox? -- concept in this day and age. Since their 3-9 start, they have the best record in the NBA.

But has anyone mentioned them as anything other than a championship wannabe? Even the ever-imperious Phil Jackson dissed them recently after his Lakers had lost to Milwaukee.

Jackson was asked if he thought the Bucks were championship contenders, Big Chief Triangle replied, succinctly, "no, I don't." He then went on to add that you can't get to the NBA Finals without a dominating center or a force inside, which, given that he did it six times with Luc Longley, Bill Cartwright and Will Perdue sort of contradicts his own argument.

"Chicago was an aberration," Jackson added.

Oh, OK. Well, guess what Phil: The whole Eastern Conference is an aberration this season. (And, by the way, your boys are 0-2 against the Bucks.) The Bucks might not have a dominant inside force, but they do have a defensive force in the middle in the person of Ervin Johnson. He can at least block shots when he's not in foul trouble.

Jackson's line of logic is uncharacteristically conventional. We expected something more mystical and abstruse from him. It helps to have a force inside and most of the Western Conference teams are blessed in that regard. It isn't mandatory, as Jackson's own Bulls' teams proved time and again.

It also used to be mandatory that you be able to play suffocating defense in the postseason to win. Despite Miami's rather pathetic postseason experience over the last several years -- when Mourning was playing -- that still is an article of faith.

Well, it helps if you play defense. But, these days, everyone plays defense. Or everyone tries to play defense. Even Rick Pitino figured that one out. The coaches are obsessed with it to the point where they've squeezed the offense out of the game necessitating not one, but two ad hoc committees charged with making rules changes.

	“	Nobody talked about us. But why should it be any different now? No one has taken us seriously all year. That's OK with us. ”
		— Scott Williams

It has been thus ever since the Pistons decided to brutalize the game and beat teams up in addition to just beating them. The Bulls won with their defense. The Rockets won with their defense. The Spurs and, to a certain extent, the Lakers won with their defense.

It's not as if the Bucks are defenseless; they're just ahead of Vancouver in points allowed. They're ahead of Cleveland and Denver in defensive field goal percentage. They don't pretend to be anything that they're not. But this past Saturday, they went into San Antonio and held the Spurs to 77 points and a franchise-record low 31.7 field goal percentage. They then held the Kings scoreless over the final three minutes Tuesday night in a 107-101 victory in Arco Arena.

"We just try to junk up the defense enough with traps and presses and rotations to keep you off balance," explains Milwaukee reserve Scott Williams. "In that game in San Antonio, we had those two Hall of Famers (David Robinson and Tim Duncan) off balance all night. When you have five guys giving a team so many different looks, and tuned into a defensive game plan, that's better than having one dominant inside player like a Mutombo or a Mourning."

But the universal obsession with defense only highlights why the Bucks should be considered a dangerous playoff team. They have people who can actually score. Honest. Not only that, they have five players who, on any given night, can explode for 25 points and no one would be asking for a urine specimen afterwards.

	Allen

	Robinson

	Thomas

Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell are all proven big-time scorers. Tim Thomas and Lindsey Hunter are also accomplished offensive players. All five have lethal three-point capability. Miami has allowed only six opponents to score 100 points this season in a non-overtime game. The Bucks, who have played them twice, and beaten them twice, have done it twice. The Bucks have Darvin Ham and the improving Jason Caffey to do the dirty work. Johnson can block shots. Williams and Cassell are there for the much-need comic relief.

Look at the Sixers. They are a defensive-oriented team. But what happens when Allen Iverson doesn't score? Sure, they can win, but where do you turn for points if he's bottled up or in one of those 9-for-33 funks? Miami has proven to be a playoff fraud the past few years; one more decent scorer would have made a huge difference. The Knicks are painful to watch when they can't score, which is most of the time.

And who's to quarrel with Milwaukee's record against the so-called elite? They split their season series with Philly. They're 2-0 against the Heat. They're 7-0 against the Lakers, Jazz, Kings and Spurs. They have the best home record in the Eastern Conference and the second-best road record (one of only two Eastern Conference teams with winning record on the road, and that's after an 0-5 start. Philly is the other.)

That's why they got a collective chuckle when Mourning came back last week and everyone noted that Philadelphia had better watch out for the rejuvenated, reconfigured Heat. Once again, everyone had missed the obvious.

"Nobody talked about us," Williams said. "But why should it be any different now? No one has taken us seriously all year. That's OK with us."

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.